I’ll have full reviews of everything I got to see and do in this column, on Vegas4Visitors.com, and in the next edition of the Moon Handbooks Las Vegas (due in stores later this year) but for now I wanted to give you the highlights and lowlights over the next couple of weeks. We’ll start with the hotels…

Despite the snickering about whether or not they could pull it off (mostly from me, I have to admit), the new Planet Hollywood is a stunner from top to bottom. The casino is a huge improvement over the Aladdin, with a modern take on retro Hollywood glamour, all dark woods and dramatic lighting set off by vibrant purples, reds, and greens. I also got a preview of the new rooms, which aren’t available yet but will be later this year and into 2008. They are beautiful, with purple velour oversized headboards, funky modern furnishings, Sheraton’s Sweet Sleeper beds (pillow top mattresses, feather down pillows, etc.), flat panel televisions, and more. Each room will have a Hollywood theme and while there may be multiple rooms with the same theme (“Pulp Fiction” for instance) each room will have totally unique memorabilia in display cases. New restaurants, nightclubs, and entertainment are on the way and it all sounds interesting so I have to give them credit for doing a great job with the property.

The new “GO” rooms at The Flamingo are currently the official “coolest” rooms on The Strip. Done with a big nod to the Bugsy Siegel era, the rooms feature decidedly retro décor with big white padded vinyl headboards, white built in desks and chairs that look like they time traveled from the 1940s, and full walls of white drapes (electronic no less) offset by vibrant pinks and deep browns in the wallpaper, carpeting, and accents. Flat panel televisions, CD/DVD players, and high-speed Internet keep it modern so the overall effect is very hip. The bathrooms have also been completely redone with frosted glass walls, a television built into the mirror, and all new fixtures, lighting, and amenities. Staying in one of them will cost you extra (about $50 more per night if the website is any indication) but it’s totally worth it.

I saw another home run at El Cortez, the Downtown Las Vegas stalwart that is in the process of a major makeover that has turned the property from an also-ran into a major contender. The casino area has been completely revamped with new wood and metal accents, carpeting, and (most importantly) about half the number of machines it had before so it is much less crowded. The rooms have received facelifts with upgraded furnishings and décor plus touches you don’t usually find at hotels in this price range like wireless Internet and (coming soon) flat panel televisions. A new porte cochere is open on 6th Street with beautiful stone and iron details and there is much more in the works including a plaza linking the property to Las Vegas Boulevard, a hip boutique hotel addition, and more. A huge victory for a Downtown classic.

Not a lot has changed yet at the Loew’s Lake Las Vegas hotel, which they took over from the Hyatt corporation but expect that to change soon. Some of the rooms have gotten a makeover with upgraded furnishings and décor but the bulk of the changes are more subtle with the lobby due for some additional landscaping and new furnishings and the outdoor areas getting new deck chairs, cabanas, and fire pits along the lake. It was a nice hotel before and still is and I’m looking forward to seeing what the evolution of the property brings.

I spent a night in one of the new Widescreen Rooms at the Excalibur and have to tell you it is worth the extra $20 a night (or so) they are charging for them. The old rooms are not only boring and basic, they are getting pretty worn. The new rooms have been extensively upgraded with better beds, nicer furnishings, widescreen flat panel television, iPod ready alarm clocks, and new vanities and fixtures in the bathrooms. Not the nicest rooms in town but a huge evolution over the older product.

The new tower at Terrible’s is quite nice, with several hundred rooms of both standard and suite variety. Each comes with plenty of niceties like flat panel televisions and new furnishings and the suites have Jacuzzi tubs but you will forgo some luxuries like high speed Internet access. For prices that are a fraction of what you’ll pay nearby on The Strip, who cares? They also added a much needed parking garage (shade!) and expanded the casino a little bit. Still a good overall package.

Coming soon: reviews of shows like Spamalot, The Producers, Toni Braxton, Stomp Out Loud, and more; a taste of restaurants such as the new buffets at Harrah’s and The Palms, Stack at The Mirage, Café Ba Ba Reeba at the Fashion Show Mall, Roberta’s classic steak house at El Cortez, and some amazing soul food; a behind the scenes look at the new Springs Preserve; new nightclub reviews; and plenty of places to shop until you drop including the new Miracle Mile shops and a taste of Great Britain.

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Question: I was reading a recent column of yours and was confused by the recent smoking ban enacted in Las Vegas that you talked about. What does it cover and what doesn’t it cover?

Answer: I’m glad you asked that, Lisa. I spent a lot of time trolling the major and minor resorts in Las Vegas last week and it’s very interesting to see just how far the smoking ban has extended and the affect it has had on visiting Las Vegas.

What it ultimately boils down to is this: smoking is permitted on the gaming floor at the major casinos, in designated smoking rooms at the hotels, and in nightclubs and bars that do not serve food. Smoking has been banned everywhere else including all other public areas and restaurants.

This means that the malls are now completely smoke free as are any areas of the hotel that do not have gaming in them. So if you are a smoker and you wander out of the casino area you’re going to have to put out your cigarette before you go to the lobby, the shopping area, the restaurant rows, or anywhere else where you can’t put your hand on a slot machine. Obviously the outdoor areas are still free reign but some pool areas are now being marked as no smoking as well.

There are signs posted at most resorts that clearly state when you are entering a no-smoking area but I will say that I saw multiple instances where those signs were either not noticed or ignored and no one was coming after the offenders with billy-clubs. It’ll obviously take awhile for the smoking masses to get used to the fact that you can’t carry a cigarette with you into every square inch of the buildings like you used to.

Has it made a difference? Is the air significantly more breathable than it was before? Well, to be honest, I really couldn’t tell. Most of the major resorts have high-tech filtration systems that do a pretty good job of keeping things relatively clean and on top of that I am rarely bothered by cigarette smoke unless the person is sitting right next to me blowing it in my face. Come to think of it a person blowing in my face would bother me even if they weren’t smoking but that’s probably beside the point.

But those who are especially sensitive to it may notice a difference. If you’re one of them, please let me know what you think.

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